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DOH sets massive, open PhilHealth registration


The Department of Health and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation will stage a massive open registration in September to ensure universal Philhealth coverage in three years. Health Secretary Enrique Ona said Philhealth desks will be set up in public schools, municipal halls and all DOH-retained hospitals nationwide. “In keeping with P-Noy (President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III's) promise to give each and every Filipino access to quality health care in three year's time, your Philhealth will open its doors across the country to reach out to the very poor Filipinos identified through the National Household targeting System – Proxy means test (NHTS-PMT) of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and considered as true indigents," Ona said in an article posted on the DOH website. Philhealth President and CEO Dr. Rey Aquino said all Philhealth regional and service offices and government as well as premiere commercial centers will hold registration for non-members. The Aquino administration has prioritized giving all Filipinos access to health insurance in three years. Ona, who chairs the Philhealth Board, also organized a multi-sectoral task force to set things into motion and realize President Aquino’s directive soonest. Ona will personally lead the task force composed of the DOH, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the DSWD and the Department of Education (DepEd). The DILG shall help the DOH engage local chief executives in the enrollment of indigents identified by the DSWD in their respective jurisdictions, while DepEd shall help create Philhealth desks in all public schools to encourage students and their parents to register and become Philhealth members. Meanwhile, the DOH also launched the “Ospital ng Pinoy: Malinis at Mabango" program, to improve health services. “Hospitals should be centers of wellness and not of sickness, hence the need to maintain always a clean environment," Ona said. He lamented the poor status of cleanliness and orderliness of DOH hospitals have always been a usual source of complaints among patients and caregivers. Aside from providing health services, hospital authorities should make sure that the wards, rooms, lavatories, hallways, and corridors inside the hospital premises and its surroundings are always clean, orderly, and odor-free, he said. Ona challenged hospital directors of DOH-retained hospitals and specialty hospitals to maintain the highest degree of hygiene in their work environment. Unclean, unkempt and smelly hospital premises pose a health risk to patients, their companions, and health workers, he said. He added this also causes the negative perception of the people on public hospitals. The campaign instructs hospitals to maintain cleanliness and orderliness inside hospital premises including driveways and parking areas at all times and pursue specific initiatives, mechanisms, and activities to achieve its goal. It should also mobilize its staff and health workers, as well as patients and their companions, to ensure that hospital cleanliness and orderliness is maintained. “Ospital ng PiNOY: Malinis at Mabango" stickers, posters, and tarpaulins should be set up in conspicuous areas such as entrances, corridors, hallways, offices, wards, rooms, lavatories, etc. A feedback mechanism such as grievance boxes, complaint desks, hotlines is a must in order to allow patients, clients and other stakeholders to lodge their complaints regarding the cleanliness and orderliness of the hospital so that corrective measures are implemented immediately. Ona directed the Assistant Secretary for Special Concerns and Regional Directors to ensure compliance to this campaign by conducting regular, random, unannounced spot checks of hospitals and by calling the attention of hospital chiefs, if necessary. — LBG, GMANews.TV

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